Watch: Saudi security cordon to help pilgrims in stoning rite
Pilgrim numbers increased after 2 years of downsized Hajj due to COVID-19
Cairo: As pilgrims from around the world are gathering in Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage, the authorities have stepped up efforts in different sectors to ensure the rites go on smoothly.
Security personnel are on maximum alert in holy sites to keep order and help pilgrims.
A video released by Saudi newspaper Okaz shows fatigues-clad members of security forces setting up a cordon to protect a blind pilgrim while he casts pebbles as part of the devil-stoning stoning inside the Jammarat structure in Mina.
In the footage, a soldier wearing a face mask is seen guiding the pilgrim to pebble throwing.
Saudi Arabia this year has allowed 1 million pilgrims from inside and outside the kingdom to perform Hajj, after restricting the annual Islamic duty to some thousands of Muslims living inside the country for the last two years due to COVID-19 outbreak.